Christopher Bland

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Sir (Francis) Christopher Buchan Bland (born May 29, 1938) is a British businessman and politician. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1996 to 2001, when he took up a position as Chairman of British Telecommunications plc. He left his position with BT in September 2007.

Bland was educated at Sedbergh School and The Queen's College, Oxford. While at Oxford he was a member of the Irish Olympic fencing team; he captained the Oxford University Fencing and Modern Pentathlon teams. He spent his National Service with the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and afterwards became involved in Conservative Party politics. Together with Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler he wrote a pamphlet in 1964 on immigration, urging fewer controls over entry and more effort to integrate immigrant communities. He worked as a management consultant with Booz & Company.

He was elected as a member of the Greater London Council for Lewisham from 1967, and became Deputy Chairman of Inner London Education Authority and Chairman of the Schools committee. He was elected chairman of the Bow Group think tank on April 10, 1969 to 1970 and also edited its magazine Crossbow. With his business career demanding more time, he stood down from the GLC at the 1970 election.

On June 29, 1972 it was announced that Bland was to become Deputy Chairman of the Independent Television Authority (later the Independent Broadcasting Authority) for a term from July 1, 1972 to July 31, 1976. Shortly afterwards he moved from Booz-Allen Hamilton to First National Finance Corporation [1973-74]. Bland retained his involvement in politics and was critical of changes made by Margaret Thatcher to Conservative Central Office staff shortly after her election as Leader in 1975. In 1976 he put his name to a supporting statement issued by the National Campaign for Electoral Reform. He was given a second four year term on the IBA from 1976 to 1980.

During the 1970s Bland ran construction and engineering firm Beyer Peacock and printers Sir Joseph Causton & Sons. From January 1, 1982 he joined the board of LWT (Holdings) and on January 1, 1984 succeeded John Freeman as Chairman of the main board of LWT. He was a Director of ITN and GMTV, and Chairman of Century Hutchinson, an LWT subsidiary When, after the 1993 franchise renewal, LWT was taken over by Granada, Bland became a millionaire.

From 1982 to 1994, Bland was chairman of the Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospitals Special Health Authority, subsequently chairing Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, including Charing Cross Hospital, from 1994 to February 1997. He was knighted for his work in the National Health Service in 1993. Bland has held other public sector roles: as Chairman of the Private Finance Panel from 1995 to 1996 and as a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Panel on the Citizen's Charter.

He became chairman of the BT Board on 1 May 2001 and left in September 2007. He remains a senior adviser at Warburg Pincus (a private equity firm),Chairman of and a substantial shareholder in Canongate Press and Leiths School of Food and Wine, and was appointed Chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Company in April 2004.

He is stepfather to the author Georgia Byng and the owner of the Edinburgh based publishing house Canongate Books Jamie Byng following his marriage in 1981.

[edit] BBC

Preceded by Marmaduke Hussey

Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors 1996 - 2001

Succeeded by Gavyn Davies